Demonstrators take part in national day of protests against police brutality

Demonstrators completed a 14-mile walk from Richland to Pasco on Tuesday to protest police brutality in the wake of the shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes.

They started the march at John Dam Plaza and ended at Volunteer Park in Pasco with musical performances and a guest speaker.

“This is a an opportunity to unite our community behind human and civil rights,’ Jeremy Peterson told the group before they started their walk.

Peterson is part of Tri-Cities Community Solutions, whose members organized and participated in the march. The community group of local activists was formed in response to the Feb. 10 shooting of Zambrano-Montes by Pasco police.

Similar marches took place across the country Tuesday as part of a “call to action” from The Stop Mass Incarceration Network. The demonstrations were organized to “stop police murder,” according to the organization’s website.

No arrests were reported during Tuesday’s march, unlike a larger rally and march over the weekend in Pasco that led to four people being locked up. Officers cited three members of Tri-Cities Community Solutions for disorderly conduct.

Group members posted photos of police monitoring them Tuesday as they walked.

Zambrano-Montes was fired on 17 times by three Pasco officers after he reportedly threw at least one rock at them. The shooting has sparked ongoing protests in the area and led to an investigation by the Tri-City Special Investigations Unit.